Massive truck bomb in Afghanistan wounds 77 US soldiers

The AP is reporting that the 77 troops injured in the blast were Americans with the toll being 2 Afghan civilians killed and 102 injured.The New York Times:

Among the dead was an 8-year-old girl whom officials said was hit by flying shrapnel more than a half-mile away.

The injury toll was believed to be one of the worst for foreign forces in a single incident in the decade-long war, and came in the same district of Wardak Province where two months ago insurgents shot down an American Chinook helicopter, killing all 30 Americans and 8 Afghans on board.

No coalition troops died in Saturday's explosion, and none of their injuries were considered life threatening, NATO said in a statement, adding that many were expected to return to their duties shortly.

NATO did not release the nationalities of the injured soldiers, but the outpost was run by Americans, who provide most of the soldiers in that region. The bomb struck in the district of Sayed Abad near the main highway that links Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar.

The bombing was another indication of the eroding security situation in Wardak and other provinces close to the capital, even as NATO officials say violence overall in the country has begun to decline.

Note: Responsibility for security in Wardan province was handed over to the Afghan government last month.

Heckuva job your boys are doing, Hamid.

The AP is reporting that the 77 troops injured in the blast were Americans with the toll being 2 Afghan civilians killed and 102 injured.

Among the dead was an 8-year-old girl whom officials said was hit by flying shrapnel more than a half-mile away.

The injury toll was believed to be one of the worst for foreign forces in a single incident in the decade-long war, and came in the same district of Wardak Province where two months ago insurgents shot down an American Chinook helicopter, killing all 30 Americans and 8 Afghans on board.

No coalition troops died in Saturday's explosion, and none of their injuries were considered life threatening, NATO said in a statement, adding that many were expected to return to their duties shortly.

NATO did not release the nationalities of the injured soldiers, but the outpost was run by Americans, who provide most of the soldiers in that region. The bomb struck in the district of Sayed Abad near the main highway that links Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar.

The bombing was another indication of the eroding security situation in Wardak and other provinces close to the capital, even as NATO officials say violence overall in the country has begun to decline.

Note: Responsibility for security in Wardan province was handed over to the Afghan government last month.